CPL 2019: Analyst added to Guyana Amazon Warriors’ technical team

By Avenash Ramzan

The Guyana Amazon Warriors have expanded the technical team to include an Analyst for the first time. Indian national Saurab Walkar will fill the role for the 2019 tournament, which will bowl off on September 4 and conclude on October 12.

Walkar was part of the Mumbai team in the Ranji Trophy, India’s First-Class competition, for eight seasons. On two occasions during that time Mumbai lifted the title.

In early 2019, he left the Mumbai unit to take up a role with Pakistan Super League side Multan Sultans. Incidentally, he was convinced to take up the role there by Multan Sultans coach Johan Botha, who is now the Warriors coach for the second season running.

Pakistan all-rounder Shoaib Malik, who is also part of the Warriors set-up this season, was captain of the Multan Sultans at that tournament.

Walkar was also a Performance Analyst with Indian Premier League side Rajasthan Royals for three seasons.

Meanwhile, Guyanese Rayon Griffith will remain Assistant Coach to Botha, and while a captain is yet to be named, it could be one of either Malik or South Africa-born Australian all-rounder Chris Green.

Omar Khan will continue to function as Team Operations Manager, a post he has held since the inception of the CPL in 2013, while former Guyana and West Indies fast bowler Reon King is the Cricket Operations Manager, Clinton Jeremiah (Trainer), Jason Pilgrim (Physio) and Kurlyn Smith-Nicholas (Masseuse).

The Guyana Amazon Warriors are hunting a maiden CPL title after four failed attempts in the final. On the other two occasions, they made it to the semi-final round.

What is the role of a Performance Analyst in Sport?

(Source: https://www.sportperformanceanalysis.com)

Performance analysis is the process of assessing performance in a sport to develop an understanding of actions that can inform decision-making, optimise performance and support coaches and players in their journey towards optimal results.

In many team sports this would consist on tactical assessment, movement analysis, video and statistical databasing and modeling and coach and player data presentations.

A few years ago, the role of a Performance Analyst simply consisted on recording a training session or game and creating video highlights to provide to managers and players for review. Video recording and editing constituted the large majority of an analyst’s role.

Today, the role of Performance Analysts has evolved where analysts now require a lot more expertise in numerous tracking hardware and software that the advances in technology have brought to the industry, allowing for more sophisticated data collection, storage and increased coaching demands for data presentation.

With the growing phenomenon of ‘big data’, the large amounts of data collected in the world of sport requires analytical experts to handle, disseminate and generate insights from this data.